peter alexander, nbc news, new york. >>> we turn overseas to what has been an extraordinary and violent day in the arab world with at least 15 people killed in libya. in bahrain, something far different. and a symbolic victory for the people. richard engel is there again for us tonight. >> reporter: this is what the protesters have been waiting more than a week to achieve. a victory simply by arriving at pearl square in the center of bahrain. it's been the epicenter since the movement began. thousands gathered peacefully here last week. a demonstration meant to replicate egypt's formula for revolution. but before darn on thursday, police and soldiers were sent in for a brutal crackdown. four protesters were killed. the next day after funerals, the demonstrators returned defiantly. again they were attacked. even as some protesters opened their shirts, exposing their chests to bullets. but the police and soldiers did fire. at least 50 people were injured, sparking international condemnation and a call from president obama to bahrain's royal family. today the government's posture was radic

peter alexander, nbc news, london. >>> and the coverage is just getting started. that's our broadcast for this monday night. thank you for being here with us as we begin a new week together. i'm brian williams. we hope, of course, to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.m co >>> putting criminals back on the street. bay area sheriff's lash out at the governor's big budget cuts with a warning about your safety. >>> good evening and thanks for joining us. i'm diane in for jessica. >> and one of the oldest phrase in the book, if you do the crime be prepared to do the ti

nbc's peter alexander has our story. >> reporter: the snowstorm taking aim at the upper midwest right now could rival some of the biggest storms to hit that area this season. up to 18 inches forecast in minneapolis, already its fifth snowiest winter to date. >> i can't complain. it is minnesota, right? >> reporter: fierce winds punish the east coast all weekend, knocking down power lines and trees in pennsylvania, and sweeping dozens of wild fires across parts of maryland and virginia. nearby in washington, d.c., powerful winds toppled the national christmas tree that has stood outside the white house more than three decades. gusts reaching more than 50 miles an hour in new york city worked like a blow torch, fueling this five-alarm apartment fire that left one woman dead and more than 20 firefighters injured. >> the wind gusts is making very difficult for the fire department to put it out. the whole of the top floor is gone. >> reporter: the winter whiplash could make you dizzy. for a moment there last week, it felt like spring, but clashing weather systems forced the temperature in

. >> i'm peter alexander in boston. after a day with a punishing winter mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain, the concern across much of the northeast this evening is ice. already slushy roads are beginning to freeze, and snow is soaking up rain like a sponge, raising the risk of collapsing roofs. >> reporter: but in the midst of a winter wallop, a certain pennsylvania groundhog wandered out in search of his shadow. the verdict. >> so an early spring it will be! >> reporter: but for now, it's still winter, and folks will do whatever it takes to get through it all. and today for the first time since 1999, chicago public schools were closed. they'll be closed again tomorrow. what's next? well, just plummeting temperatures and dangerous windchills. brian, let's just hope that groundhog got it right. >> absolutely. we're rooting for punxsutawney phil. what an unbelievable winter of 2011 so far. kevin tibbles in chicago. thanks. >>> when we come back, we'll go to australia with what they're dealing with tonight on top of the

nbc's peter alexander is there with more. peter, good morning to you. >> reporter: it is not much of a good morning here in boston right now. they refer to this as a one-two fist punch. ten inches of snow in the last 24 hours. last hour, we have seen rain, sleet and snow. a lot of the state is seeing freezing rain. this is a fresh blanket of snow. beneath it is all that snow. on top of sit this glaze of ice which is making driving conditions very dangerous throughout this area here. jackknifed tractor trailers on the massachusetts turnpike. stand out throughout this area. we are watching a plow from this direction go by here. we will let him go by as he does his job p. to give you a better sense of what's store in this area, schools are closed. 680 schools in the boston area are closed or on delayed start today throughout the area. ice is the word. you have to be careful. this is what they are referring to as an exhausting encore. they call this groundhog day, meredith. saturday could be groundhog day again with more snow in t

. >>> 30 years after princess diana walked down the aisle in her wedding dress, peter alexander joins more. you were there at the beginning of the journey a few weeks ago. we saw you, where was that? >> grand rapids. this is my sweet spot right now. we were in london for a bit and this dress will come here and make its first appearance on "today" show driving from grand rapids, michigan, overnight. over the last several days i had a chance to interview david emmanuel who designed this now famous dress with all the theater, this victorian style, hand-sewn dress and some of the best details he gave us were about what happened behind the scenes with diana. among the details, if i can share. the fact that when they were designing it, it was known who would be doing it but they didn't want anybody to know exactly what the dress would look like. whenever they spoke about diana they called her deborah behind the scenes. >> nobody would know who it was. peter, thank you very much. you can see it here inside studio 1-a tuesday morning on "today" show. >>> we're back in a moment. all the new te

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peter alexander has details. peter, good morning. >> good morning to you.s how the paparazzi must have felt about 30 years ago. they were on the outside looking in, begging for any little nugget of information about that now famous dress. back then the designers even hid it by putting fake lace and other fabric outside in the trash can just to throw the nosy reporters off the case. it was in essence a spectacular fashion show before a tv audience of more than 700 million people. the victorian-inspired hand-sewn wedding gown that lady diana spencer wore the day she became a princess. >> you have this amazing bright red carpet. she just shimmered in ivory against the red and the gray. it was dramatic. >> reporter: young designer david emmanuel and his wife elizabeth got the call that would define their lives from diana herself. once their names were announced publicly, the biggest challenge was keeping their soon-to-be famous design and that 25-foot-long train under wraps. >> this was perhaps the best-guarded secret in fashion history. how did you keep it tha

peter alexander is in london with the latest. good morning to you. >> reporter: meredith, good morning to you. this news is being released within the last 30 minutes or so. prince william and kate middleton now making it official who will be standing by their sides at the royal wedding two and a half months away, april 29. not surprisingly, william has asked his brother prince harry to be his best man. kate announcing her maid of honor will be her younger sister pippa. she's 26. she will be one of the oldest royal bridesmaids in recent times. her primary responsibility is a doozy. to make sure the dress is displayed perfectly. if you think that's not a big deal, remember the fact that diana's train was 25 feet long. that's no easy task. her other responsibility is to make sure the younger bridesmaid and page boys behave themselves. think of it as babysitting with several billion people watching. the oldest bridesmaid will be just 8 years old and there are 3-year-olds in the mix. among them prince edward's daughter lady louise, th

we have peter alexander already in london with the latest on the story. hey, peter.ing out buck house the entire time. the palace can't get rid of us. 73 days. prince william and kate will attend their first and very likely only official public event before the wedding next week. there is a rescue boat christening in wales where william is stationed and the celebration for the 600th anniversary of andrews university where the two met and fell in love. all that and a little wedding in the works. with an estimated tv audience of more than 2 billion people at the world's most anticipated wedding the kids could easily steal the show. call it a royal version of will & kate plus eight, that's the size of the wedding party. their names released monday on the british monarchy's facebook page -- where else? among the young bridesmaids and p page boys, the nanny's son and lady louise windsor, the queen's youngest granddaughter who suffers from a rare condition that affects her eyes. her parents have been sensitive to keep her out of the spotlight until now. >> she's 7 and over

peter alexander is at buckingham palace with details. ter, good morning to you. >> matt, good morning to you. a beautiful day outside the palace. william and kate are now officially coming to america. well, north america, at least. it will happen this summer. next week, they're expected to make their only public appearance before the actual wedding. if you hope that you're on that invitation list, now is the time to start checking your mailboxes. those formal invites, according to insiders, are now heading out. it will be a royal run-through of sorts, exactly one week from today prince william and kate in their first and only official public engagement before the wedding, will head to a remote isle. the unlikely place with the newyweds are expected to make their first home. the event, a rescue boat dedication, but it may as well be a formal christening for kate's new life. >> this trip is very much the dress rehearsal. this is going to be her opportunity to take to the stage and hopefully shine. >> reporter: a day later, they'll attend an

first, nbc's peter alexander has the story behind it. eporter: good morning. i know wedding dresses are in your sweet spot. back then everybody knew who was designing princess diana's dress but the problem was keeping the design a secret. reporters did everything they could for a scoop. designers referred to her as debra so no clues would leak out. they had nightmares about a break-in at the show room so they locked the now famous dress in a metal safe each night. it was undoubtedly the dress of the century. a victoria-inspired hand-sewn wedding down lady diana spencer wore when she was married. >> it was romantic. "gone with the wind," magical, almost old hollywood. >> reporter: the designers, david emmanuel and his then wife elizabeth. a young team that had been in business only seven years. the call came from diana herself. >> she similarly ran up and said, hello. >> reporter: diana called? >> oh, yes. she's a regular human being, you know. very sweet. beautiful-looking. >> reporter: they had worked with diana before. once their names

first, peter alexander has her story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you.imson is still celebrated for her efforts but she'll likely tell you she's no hero. but her arm-swinging act against six would be robbers earned her the nickname "super gran." as you are about to see there is nothing antique about this grandma. the video is striking and so were the sledge hammers. a brazen pack of thieves targeted a jewelry store. then out of nowhere there was ann timson. at 71 ignoring her age and arthritis, afraid someone was being beaten up. she quickly realized it was a break-in. so armed only with a handbag, the so called super gran started swinging. >> i think the adrenaline was going. i think i was really, really angry that they were there to do a daylight robbery at that time of the day. and why should they get away with it. >> reporter: suffice it to say they didn't get away with anything other than bruises. there goes the scooter. >> amazing. the courage to do that. >> reporter: the mayor was impressed and so was martial arts expert joe goldby who said the gr

nbc's peter alexander has the story. good morning. >> matt, good morning to you. this video can be hard to watch. the veteran police chief calls it one of the worst attacks he has seen. the victim is a 13-year-old boy terrorized as he was walking home from school. he was taunted, dragged, even tortured. the police chief called the attackers a wolf pack and said just as upsetting is the fact that no one stepped up to help. the attack is as disturbing as it is vicious. police say the 13-year-old was ambushed on the way home from school by a group of teenagers. >> when this happens, it's shocking. >> reporter: the brutal assault lasted more than 20 minutes with one of the teens recording the entire thing on his cell phone. you can hear the attackers laughing at times. as cory was slapped in the head, kicked in the chest, even tossed into a tree before falling to the ground. >> when i got down they chased me again, started punching me in my stomach and stomping me. >> reporter: cory said he tried to get away but couldn't escape seven attackers. his screams for help go